Republicans against Retirement? No seriously! Not a joke

[SouthoftheAndes]

I don't see how Republicans on this site who frequent the war Room often can read what I posted (which is all FACTS!) and still decide to vote for a Republican who vows to cut the legs off half the American population in the name of greedy and catering to the elite.

It seems like Donald Trump is the ONLY Republican who has so far not attacked Social Security by wanting to destroy it.

 

[ultramanhyata]

Pension formats for criminal justice employees is absurd.

Here in Illinois, you can work as a prison guard for 20 years, switch to being a higher-paid prison cook for one year, and then retire and get 80% of your most recent annual income for the rest of your life. It's a joke.

Wait. WTF... You're saying prison cooks make more money than prison guards??

 

[speakhandsforme]

Wait. WTF... You're saying prison cooks make more money than prison guards??

In Illinois, apparently. You need the same certification and training because of your proximity and contact with inmates. Which job would you prefer?

 

[ultramanhyata]

In Illinois, apparently. You need the same certification and training because of your proximity and contact with inmates. Which job would you prefer?

Personally, neither. I would just assume that being a cook would pose less danger on a day to day basis. We had a prison guard murdered at the Pen here in 2011. (The prisoner who killed him was executed for the crime within the year.)

 

[chardog]

I don't see how Republicans on this site who frequent the war Room often can read what I posted (which is all FACTS!) and still decide to vote for a Republican who vows to cut the legs off half the American population in the name of greedy and catering to the elite.

It seems like Donald Trump is the ONLY Republican who has so far not attacked Social Security by wanting to destroy it.

I'm ok with Social security going away, I'de invest that money elsewhere. I know this may not sit well for a lot of folks, but oh well. Social security was built in a way that only a certain amount of people would reap the benefits, but now that people live longer, you'de be irresponsible to leave it alone. You have to adjust or else it cant be funded, it's just number crunching.

 

[djacobox372]

I'm ok with Social security going away, I'de invest that money elsewhere. I know this may not sit well for a lot of folks, but oh well. Social security was built in a way that only a certain amount of people would reap the benefits, but now that people live longer, you'de be irresponsible to leave it alone. You have to adjust or else it cant be funded, it's just number crunching.

Yep and all that needs to be done is to remove the cap on social security taxes so that those earnings above $118k are taxed as well. If we did that the fund would have an even more massive surplus and we could lower the retirement age and increase benefits.

The problem is that a far higher percentage of the nations wealth now comes in over the cap which means we're collecting a far lower percent of GDP for SS than before.

Sadly, if you poll American workers, most don't even realize that their wealthy neighbors only pay SS taxes on a small part of their income instead of their entire income like they do.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Yep and all that needs to be done is to remove the cap on social security taxes so that those earnings above $118k are taxed as well. If we did that the fund would have an even more massive surplus and we could lower the retirement age and increase benefits.

The projected shortfall over the next 75 years, combined, is 1% of GDP. Projections that far out are pretty worthless. It could be worse or it could be that there is no need for adjustment. I think it would be better to play it safe and a modest tax increase would be a good idea. I'd actually prefer that it fall on capital, as opposed to on higher income levels, though.

 

[SODACKER]

Yep and all that needs to be done is to remove the cap on social security taxes so that those earnings above $118k are taxed as well. If we did that the fund would have an even more massive surplus and we could lower the retirement age and increase benefits.

The problem is that a far higher percentage of the nations wealth now comes in over the cap which means we're collecting a far lower percent of GDP for SS than before.

Sadly, if you poll American workers, most don't even realize that their wealthy neighbors only pay SS taxes on a small part of their income instead of their entire income like they do.

Do you think those making 100k realize they're paying much more for the same benefits as someone making 50k.

 

[James Keith]

Yep and all that needs to be done is to remove the cap on social security taxes so that those earnings above $118k are taxed as well. If we did that the fund would have an even more massive surplus and we could lower the retirement age and increase benefits.

The problem is that a far higher percentage of the nations wealth now comes in over the cap which means we're collecting a far lower percent of GDP for SS than before.

Sadly, if you poll American workers, most don't even realize that their wealthy neighbors only pay SS taxes on a small part of their income instead of their entire income like they do.

You are talking like it's a welfare plan. The govt pretends it is a contributory pension plan. They don't call it tax they call it contributions. They put your money in a "trust fund" and send you regular mail about what your contributions would net you if you retired today.

Back in the 90's when it had to be adjusted previously, the republicans proposed means testing (i.e. stop sending checks to rich old people) but the democrats opposed it. Because they were afraid people would see it as socialism and finally oppose it. Now everyone apparently has forgotten all that acts like it's proof americans love socialism. We'll see.

 

[ultramanhyata]

Do you think those making 100k realize they're paying much more for the same benefits as someone making 50k.

I think when you're in the country's top 5% of individual income earners any whining you do about your perceived financial "hardships" will be met with more scorn than empathy.

 

[ncordless]

I like that there's no definition of what a "modest" increase in revenue actually means.

But as for the politics of it...who cares? If there's no public support then those guys won't get elected.

As an attack on the presence of big money donors driving political positions, I'd be interested in knowing the same info on the Democratic side of the aisle. If the source of the money is a problem then it's a 2 headed beast. If you try to convince me that there's only one head and it's the only bad one then I'm going to know that this is simple propaganda.

Granted, this was a few years ago, but at that time I calculated that just increasing the ss tax cap 15% would create a large surplus.

 

[ncordless]

Do you think those making 100k realize they're paying much more for the same benefits as someone making 50k.

Do you those making 118000 thousand realize the are paying the same amount as someone making 118,000,000?

 

[ncordless]

One point I think people view too narrowly is the idea that raising the age of retirement age is going to significantly reduce the people on the SS dole.

Sure, people are living longer. But that doesn't necessarily mean that those extra years are going to be productive work years.

Instead, many people (probably most manual laborers) experience significant decline in there bodies starting in their 50's. They will live longer, but it's not like people 65+ can therefore all engage in work of the type they are suited for.

Raising the SS retirement age will create a corresponding increase in the amount of people on disability.

 

[alexdlrg]

Do you those making 118000 thousand realize the are paying the same amount as someone making 118,000,000?

I think you mis-typed, because "118000 thousand" is equal to 118,000,000. It makes your post rather humorous.

 

[ncordless]

I think you mis-typed, because "118000 thousand" is equal to 118,000,000. It makes your post rather humorous.

Ooops.